The AVERT Research Network

The Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism (AVERT) Research Network is a multidisciplinary multi-institutional research network based in Melbourne, Australia supported by Deakin University’s Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI). AVERT members conduct research into a wide array of topics related to terrorism, radicalisation, and violent extremism. Our Network is comprised of highly engaged and critically informed social science, humanities and multidisciplinary research academics from a variety of universities and research institutions who believe in conducting meaningful evidence-based research for the public good.

We aim to understand and reduce the social harms created by violent extremism

REGISTRATIONS FOR THE AVERT INTERNATIONAL
RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM 2024 ARE NOW OPEN

Download the draft program here

Register here

PEOPLE, PLACES AND SPACES: NEW DYNAMICS AND SHIFTING RESPONSES TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM  

29-31 October 2024

In recent years there have been demographic shifts in the people drawn to or participating in violent extremism, the places they come from and the spaces where they participate in and mobilise to violence.  

This year’s symposium explores various dimensions of these shifting dynamics around people, places and spaces. Presentations will provide insights into what these emerging dynamics mean for violent extremism risk and threat analysis and their implications for policy and practitioner responses.

More information can be found at the 2024 Symposium page

Research Network Coordinator

Exciting Opportunity

Research Network Coordinator Position Available
The AVERT Research Network is seeking a new Research Network Coordinator to join our team. This role offers a chance to be part of a dynamic and multidisciplinary research initiative, supporting our mission through event management, communications, and stakeholder engagement.
Read more

New Co-Convenor of the AVERT Research Network

The AVERT Research Network is pleased to announce that Associate Professor Julian Droogan will be joining Lydia Khalil as Co-Convenor of the Network. Julian brings a wealth of experience and expertise that will help the Network to continue to grow and develop.

Speaking of his new appointment as Co-Convenor of the AVERT Research Network, Julian said, ‘I'm honoured to support the excellent work done by the AVERT Network in understanding and reducing the social harms caused by violent extremism. The AVERT Network has a strong history of supporting collaborative research and practice in all areas of countering violent extremism and radicalisation. I look forward to helping further promote these aims at a time when the risk landscape is becoming more complex and diverse.’

Read more.

The AVERT Network brings together researchers, community, government and civil society stakeholders to understand and reduce the social harms created by terrorism and violent extremism as well as the effects of counter extremism and counterterrorism implications and impacts on the fabric of our local, national and transnational communities.

AVERT members collaborate with a wide range of community, government and civil society organisations

As an Australian based research network, we remain strongly grounded in our local context while engaging globally with colleagues, institutions and issues and trends  

Seminar and Webinar Recordings

AVERT Webinar with Dr Aaron Y Zelin - The Evolution of the Islamic State

JULY 2024

AVERT Webinar with Dr Suraj Lakhani - The nexus between videogaming and violent extremism

AUGUST 29, 2024

AVERT Webinar with Dr Julia Ebner - Is There a Language of Terrorists?

JUNE 12 2024

AVERT Webinar with Professor John Horgan - Terrorist Minds

MAY 9, 2024

Latest Webinar

The nexus between videogaming and violent extremism

Dr Suraj Lakhani University of Sussex

Watch here.

The videogaming industry is currently the most profitable entertainment sector with revenues estimated to be in the region of $282 billion USD for 2024. There are 3.3 billion people around the world playing videogames on mobile phones, laptops, desktops, consoles, and other devices; a figure concentrated among 16 to 24-year-olds. Engaging in videogaming has wide-ranging pro-social benefits including providing stress relief, community building, and enabling people to carve out identities and subcultures. While videogames are not a causal factor of violence, the nexus between videogaming and violent extremism is a growing concern. This presentation will explore these intersections, which include the creation of bespoke games and modifications by violent extremists, the gamification of violent extremism, communication through online gaming spaces, gaming (and wider) online extremist ecosystems, the use of gaming cultural references to disseminate propaganda and other functions, and the potential to finance terrorism through the exchange of gaming currencies and cryptocurrencies. This webinar will also include options for policy and operational responses.

About the speaker

Suraj Lakhani is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Sussex. He also holds the roles of Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and Research Fellow at VOX-Pol. Suraj is also part of: the Steering Board of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN), the Leadership Team at VOX-Pol; the Christchurch Call New Technologies Working Group; the European Working Group on Radicalization, Extremism, and Terrorism at the European Society of Criminology; and the Home Office’s Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) Research Network.

Suraj’s research interests include video-gaming and violent extremism, violent extremism and the internet, radicalisation, and counter-terrorism policy. He has published a number of peer reviewed journal articles in internationally recognised academic publications, including Critical Studies on Terrorism, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, and The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, amongst others. He also has a number of book chapters in edited collections. Suraj has acted as primary investigator, both individually and leading recognised international consortiums, on research projects funded by, for example, the Home Office, European Commission, Research England, ESRC, British Academy, and the Leverhulme Trust.

AVERT Commentary

Featured
The Return of Terrorism to Southeast Asia
The Return of Terrorism to Southeast Asia

The devastating Islamic State (IS) attack in Moscow on 22 March bought home the reality that the terrorism threat remains. The defeat of the territorial IS caliphate five years ago was accompanied by a respite from the global campaign of attacks that commenced with the declaration of the pseudo state on 29 June 2014. The news from Moscow is that the IS threat is back.

Read More →
Why is the Sydney church stabbing an act of terrorism, but the Bondi tragedy isn’t?
Why is the Sydney church stabbing an act of terrorism, but the Bondi tragedy isn’t?

Just days after the deadly Westfield Bondi attacks, a second knife attack in Sydney has generated widespread shock and grief. This time, a 16-year-old entered an Assyrian church and rushed forward to stab the popular bishop presiding over a service, together with a priest who rushed to his defence. The shocking events were captured on the church’s video stream, and the news quickly reached thousands of members of Sydney’s large Assyrian community.

Read More →
Islamic State terror attack in Moscow a grim acknowledgement of global power status Russia seeks
Islamic State terror attack in Moscow a grim acknowledgement of global power status Russia seeks

President Vladimir Putin has long sought to restore Russia’s global status after the personally and nationally humiliating defeat of the Cold War. One of the ways he has done so is through Russia’s involvement in the Middle East – highlighted by Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria but also evidenced in many other ways. By acting as a spoiler in Afghanistan, Putin also sought to accelerate and take advantage of the United States’ own humiliating withdrawal from the region to shore up Russia’s position as a major power.

Read More →
Lawful Extremism
Lawful Extremism

Most contemporary research on extremism focuses on fringe groups that seek to overturn the status quo in a given society. Therefore, in the academic literature, we find a widespread, but not universal, belief that extremism is by definition a fringe behavior that runs counter to dominant social norms. In this paper, I make the case that regardless of whether the extremist group is fringe or dominant, extremist beliefs do not fundamentally change in character.

Read More →
What is ‘reverse racism’ – and what’s wrong with the term?
What is ‘reverse racism’ – and what’s wrong with the term?

MARIO PEUCKER • July 12, 2023
“Reverse racism” is sometimes used to describe situations where white people believe they are negatively stereotyped or discriminated against because of their whiteness – or treated less favourably than people of colour.

Read More →

 Latest News

Impact
New Co-Convenor of the AVERT Research Network
New Co-Convenor of the AVERT Research Network

The AVERT Research Network is pleased to announce that Associate Professor Julian Droogan will be joining Lydia Khalil as Co-Convenor of the Network.

Read More →
AVERT Responds to ASIO’s Increased Threat Level
AVERT Responds to ASIO’s Increased Threat Level

Following ASIO's annoucement on the 5th of August that the terrorist threat to Australia is now "probable," there has been significant discussion about the implications for national security and public safety. Experts note that while there is no immediate threat, the heightened alert level calls for vigilance and preparedness. This shift reflects broader global security trends and emphasises the need for community awareness.

Read More →
An Evening with Professor Bruce Hoffman
An Evening with Professor Bruce Hoffman

On the 25th of June, the AVERT Research Network hosted a book talk and networking reception with Professor Bruce Hoffman.

Read More →
AVERT Members attend the public hearing for the parliamentary inquiry into right-wing extremist movements in Australia
AVERT Members attend the public hearing for the parliamentary inquiry into right-wing extremist movements in Australia

On 17 June 2024, the authors of the AVERT submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into right-wing extremist movements in Australia gave evidence at the public hearing to further assist in the inquiry.

The public hearing provided an opportunity for AVERT Members to respond to questions from the committee, and to share their expertise on right-wing movements in Australia.

Read More →